Arthur t



(No Model.)

A. T. SNELL;

SAFETY PIN.

No. 481,834. Patented Aug. 30, 1892.

m: now: PETERS cm, mom-mum, WASHINGTON, o. c.

ARTHUR T. SNELL, OF VENTURA, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO SNELL & WELDON, OF SAME PLACE.

SAFETY-PIN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 481,834, dated August 30,1892.

Application filed April 12, 1890. Serial No. 347,625. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR T. SNELL, of Ventura, in the county of Ventura and State of California, have invented a new and Improved Safety-Pin, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention consists in the construction of a safety-pin which shall be strong and durable, not apt to be bent out of shape, wherein the point of the pin is wholly protected and concealed when fastened, and wherein the pin can be fastened and unfastened by the use of one hand through a lateral movement in either direction. These objects are attained by improvements on the wire frame, the spring, and the sheath, guard,

or shield.

The improved safety-pin is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure l is a perspective view of the improved pin. Fig.2isatop view thereof. Fig. 3 is a side view. Figxlisabottom view. Fig. 5 is a cross-section on the line 5 5 in Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a central longitudinal section of the guard or shield. Fig. 7 is a plan view of the safety-pin with the guard or shield removed. Fig. 8 is a plan view of the blank from which the shield is formed, and Figs. 9 and 10 are detail views of a modified form of spring.

With the exception of the guard or shield (which is of sheet metal) the safety-pin in its most perfect development is made of asingle piece of wire, which is so bent as to constitute the frame of the pin, the spring, and the pin shank. The manner in which the wire frame, spring, and pinshank are formed is shown most clearly in Figs. 1 and '7. As there shown, the base end of the pin shank A is bent at a, and from this bend the wire extends in a strand parallel with the pin-shank to constitute one side B of the pin-frame. A bend b is then formed in the wire a short distance in front of the free-pointed end of the pin-shank A, and from this bend the wire is extended in a strand parallel with the pin-shank to form a second side C of the pin-frame parallel with the side 13. The blunt end of the wire is then bent inwardly at 0 toward the base of the pin-shank and is formed into a loop d, extending around the pin-shank. This completes the pinframe, pin -shank, and

spring. A firm and rigid frame is thus formed for the pin. Itis formed of two parallel sides, between which the pin-shank is centrally located. These two parallel sides of the pinframe are connected together by the arched bond 1) at the closed end of the frame and by the two bonds at c and the loop 61 at the opposite end of the frame, whereby the pinframe is braced and rendered firm and strong at both ends. A firm support is thus offered for the pin-shield, and the safety-pin thus made is not liable to be bent out of shape under the strain to which it is subjected. The bend a between the base of the pin-shank A and the side B of the pin-frame, together with the surrounding loop d at the adjacent end of the other side 0 of the pin frame, constitutes a torsional spring, which normally holds the pointed end of the pin-shank away from the bend b of the frame and causes said point to resume this normal position when released from the guard or shield.

The guard or shield D is made of sheet metal and is secured to the pin-frame at the bend b. The shield D is shaped by bending it so as to embody the features of improvement. Fig. 8 shows a proper shape of sheet-1n etal blank from which a proper shield may be bent. Referring more particularly to Fig. 5, the shield is seen to comprise side flanges e e, which are attached to the sides B C, respectively, of the pin-frame, a base-plate f, extending between the sides B C andin substantially the same plane therewith, a central fixed tongue 9, extending at right angles from the center of the base-plate f, and the catch proper h, which is formed of two oppositely-inclined guide-plates i 11, which straddle the tongue g and have position between said tongue and the side flanges c 6, respectively. The catch 71 is supported wholly at its rear edge, so that a clear space is affordedbetween the outer face of each guide-plate v1 and its adjacent flange e for the free passage of the pin-point, and a clear space is formed between the inner face of each guide-plate t and the tongue g for the free passage of the pin-point, so that the latter when fastened is located above the tongue 9 and beneath the apex of the catch. The portions of the blank which constitute the parts of the finished shield are indicated by corresponding reference-letters in Fig. 8. The shield is united to the frame, it will be noted, by bending its side edges around the portions of the parallel sides B C adjacent to the bend b, and the catch portion h is bent around the bend b of the frame. In this manner the shield is secured to the frame and maintained in place.

This improved safety-pin finds its greatest advantage and merit in the fact that it can be manipulated by the use of one hand alone. An ordinary safety-pin cannot conveniently be fastened or unfastened with one hand, since the pin-frame Will turn when an attempt is made to move the point to one side of its catch or shield. Consequently the pin requires to be held stationary with one hand while it is being manipulated by the other. This is very inconvenient and in many instances impracticable. The inconvenience of the ordinary safety-pin is particularly felt by surgeons and nurses in applying bandages, especially to infants, since one hand must be used for holding the child, and only one hand is available for fastening the bandage by a safety-pin. The present improved safety-pin, however, is fastened or unfastened with one handequallywell as with two. In using thepin the base orframe B 0 maybe convenientlysupported by resting upon two of the fin gers,while the thumb manipulates the pin-shank, the frame 13 C afiording a firm support and preventing any rocking of the pin by the lateral movement of the pin-shank. When the pin is to be fastened, it is simply pressed down, and the guide-plates 1' 2' and side flanges e e guide the pin-point beneath the catch, so that when the pin-shank is released its point is properly engaged by the catch. In orderto unfasten the pin, the shank is pressed down and given a slight lateral movement in either direction, so that its point is pressed against one of the side flanges, and While thus pressed against one of the side flanges the shank is permitted to spring upwardly, thus unfastening the pinpoint from the catch. The side flanges e 2 thus not only act as guides for the pin-point, but also prevent its being moved too far to either side. The tongue g, while permitting the pin-point to be disengaged bya movement in either direction, necessitates the pin being unfastened in the same direction as that in which its unfastening is initiated, and it also assists in preventing an accidental unfastening of the pin.

In Figs. 9 and 10 is shown a modification of the torsional spring at the base of the pinshank. As in the construction first described the free end of the pin-frame islooped around the base of the pin-shank. The base of the pin-shank is, however, coiled around the free end of the pin-frame, so as to give greater strength and elasticity to the spring. The free end of the pin-frame is passed through the coils m and is then bent back of them to form the loop d. By forming the spring in this way there is no liability of the threads of the fabric with which the pin is used being caught or entangled between the coils of the spring.

The form of spring shown in Figs. 9 and 10 is the preferred form,but is shown as a modification, since it is not desired to limit the invention to a safety-pin having this form of spring.

I claim as my invention- 1. A safety-pin having its frame and pinshank composed of a single piece of wire, the frame being composed of two parallel strands of wire constituting the sides of the frame and united at one end by a bend b and the pinshank having position centrally between said sides, in combination with a shield for said pin made from a sheetmetal blank, the side edges of said shield being united to said frame by being bent around the same, and said shield having a portion h, which is bent around the bend b of the frame and constitutes the catch for the pin-point, substantially as set forth.

2. A safety-pin having its frame and pinshank composed of asingle piece of wire, the frame being composed of two parallel strands of wire constituting the sides of the frame and the pin-shank having position between said sides, in combination with a shield attached to said frame and comprising two side flanges e e and a catch composed of two oppositelyinclined guide-plates 'i i, said catch being located between said side flanges, whereby the pin-point must pass between one of said flanges e and one of said guide-plates a, substantially as set forth.

3. A safety-pin havinga shield comprising two side flanges e e, a base-plate f, connecting said side flanges, a tongue 9, projecting centrally from said base-plate on the same side thereof that said side flanges project, and a catch composed of two oppositely-inclined guide-plates '5 2', said catch being located between said side flanges and straddling said tongue, so that each of said guide-plates 11 is located between said tongue and one of said flanges e, substantially as set forth.

4:. A safety-pin having its frame and pinshank composed of a single piece of wire, the frame being composed of two parallel strands of the wire constituting the sides of the frame, and the pin-shank A having position centrally between said sides, in combination with a shield for the point of said pin-shank, said shield being supported by said frame and said shield comprising side flanges e e, which extend outwardly from the plane of said sides B and O, and a catch h for the point of said pin-shank, which is located between said flanges, substantially as set forth.

5. A safety-pin having its frame and pinshank composed of asingle piece of wire, the frame being composed of two parallel strands B C of the wire constituting the sides of the frame, and the pin-shank A having position centrally between said sides, in combination with a sheet-metal shield for the point of the pin-shank, comprising side flanges e e, which are attached to the sides BO, respectively, of the pin-frame, a base-plate f, which 'cxtends between the sides B0 and substantially in the same plane therewith, a central fixed tongue g, extending at right anglesfrom the center of the base of the plate f, and'the catch composed of two oppositely-inclined guide-plates i 'i, which are located between the flanges e e and straddle the tongue g, 10 substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ARTHUR T. SNELL. Witnesses:

S. FOSTER MACGURN, F. R. BUTCHER. 

